Other Names
- C. A. BEMIS,
The CAROLINE A. BEMIS, also known as C. A. BEMIS, was a wooden brig built in 1849 in Irving, New York. It had a tonnage of 207 tons.
On September 30, 1854, while bound from Cleveland to Chicago with a cargo of 200 tons of coal, the Caroline A. Bemis collided with the brig Caroline near Black River, Ohio, approximately halfway between Cleveland and Point Pelee on Lake Erie. The other vessel involved was the brig Caroline, which was sailing from Chicago to Buffalo with a cargo of corn. The collision occurred around midnight.
The Caroline A. Bemis sustained severe damage, with the collision cutting her nearly to the waterline just forward of her fore chains. She quickly sank in deep water within ten minutes of the collision. Fortunately, there was no loss of life in the incident. Some of the crew members managed to leap aboard the brig Caroline, while others escaped in the Bemis’s small boat.
After sinking, the masts of the Caroline A. Bemis were seen emergent with the sails still set a few days later. The vessel was owned by E.K. Bruce and Captain Ferris, both from Buffalo, New York.
The final location of the Caroline A. Bemis was reported as between Point Pelee and Cleveland, near Black River, Ohio, in Lake Erie. The depth at the final location was recorded as 75 inches. The vessel’s cargo at the time of the collision was approximately 200 tons of coal.
The Caroline A. Bemis had a history of enrollment in different ports. It was initially enrolled in Buffalo, New York, from 1849 to 1852. It was later enrolled in Sandusky, Ohio, in 1852, and then back to Buffalo in 1853-1854.
The collision and subsequent sinking of the Caroline A. Bemis resulted in a total loss of the vessel. The property loss was estimated at $7,000, although it is unclear whether this figure includes both vessels involved in the collision.
